JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Industrialist and philanthropist Louis Wolfson has died at age 95.

Wolfson, who had Alzheimer's disease and colon cancer, died on his 35th wedding anniversary Sunday at his Bal Harbour home, son Steve said.

"Personally, I couldn't have had a better mentor and friend and role model," Steve Wolfson said.

Louis Wolfson is survived by his wife, four children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday in Jacksonville at Congregation Ahavath Chesed.

The Wolfson family moved to Jacksonville when Louis was 1 year old. As an adult, he took over his father's scrap-metal lot and turned it into an industrial and commercial empire with assets estimated to reach $250 million.

"Despite his great successes in life, he never lost his humility," Steve Wolfson told Channel 4's Ashley Townsend. "He never forgot his roots. He never forgot Jacksonville and what Jacksonville meant to him and the family."

In 1946, Wolfson's family foundation donated $500,000 to create the Wolfson Children's Hospital.

Wolfson High School is named for Louis' brother, Samuel. The family also donated to Jacksonville University and funded construction of Wolfson Park, the minor-league baseball park in Jacksonville for decades.

Beyond the mark the family left on Jacksonville, Louis Wolfson is known for owning 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed.

Affirmed edged rival Alydar in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, and became the third horse in six years to win the Triple Crown. He followed Secretariat in 1973 and Seattle Slew in 1977, but his victories weren't as dominant; the cumulative total of his three Triple Crown wins over Alydar was just 2 lengths.

"It was just something very special about him," Louis Wolfson's second wife, Patrice, said of the horse she and her husband owned. "He was a very kind, very sweet horse. But on the racetrack, he was a fierce competitor."

The same could be said of the horse's owner, Wolfson's family said. Family members described him as a humble, gentle man and great competitor, who loved a challenge.

"He was always one who would be willing to take a chance to overcome great odds," Steve Wolfson said.

The financier was also an important figure in a scandal that led to the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas. Wolfson was convicted in 1967 of selling unregistered securities and tried to appeal the conviction. His appeal was ultimately turned away by the Supreme Court, but not before Fortas resigned following a disclosure that he had agreed to accept a $20,000 annual fee from a foundation headed by Wolfson.

At the time of the disclosure, Wolfson was serving a one-year prison sentence on the securities law conviction. After his release, he took up the cause of prison reform.